Newbie who knows nothing - help required!!!

[connieeccles]

Helo all

I am a working mum with a small child, i have become very interested in what we eat and therefore had 2 beds made in my garden, approx 1.2m sq each.

My initial idea, (before I actually read into it!), was that i would grow just a small selection of things i buy regular - potatoes, carrots, brocolli, possibly strawberrys and lettuce, but having done a bit of reading i am thinkin i may not be able to do this.

My problem is i dont have a lot of time to devote to things but woudl dearly like to grow things and let my son help.

I am just a bit lost as to when i can start, what needs planting when, where to get best seeds from and how to actually do them!!! and when they are growing what i do!

So basically i need some advice from you good people right from the start.

Just to give you a bit of background. I have a very small garden that is quite sunny, its has a few flowers, and in the past when growing things i have literally just planted and hoped for the best (usually with great success!!) and I am based in North Wales.

any help/advcie greatly appreciated

[Capsid]

Strawberries are easy to grow and require little maintenance, and they are relatively expensive in the shops. Spuds require little maintenance too. For lettuce you will need to weed and water and broccoli will require you to protect them from cabbage white butterflies. Carrots will succumb to root fly if you don't provide a protective barrier. So to start with I'd keep it simple and see how you go with spuds and strawberries.

[crazywitch]

how about some perennial herbs you can buy plug plants to et you off to a good start. same with tomatoes later and some mixed salad leaves for healthy salads.

[Bigmallly]

Welcome to the vine Connie, it's difficult to know what to grow when you don't have a lot of time. Strawbs are so easy to look after (Just watch out for the squirrels). Onions, leeks, beetroot are also easy to grow. Don't sow anything just yet as I am certain more advice will wing its way to you soon. The main thing is to enjoy it. Good luck.

[piskieinboots]

Welcome connie - best advice I can give is take time to read around whatever you wish to grow, plenty of top advice on here

No question is a daft one

[stella]

Welcome to the vine. My advice although it sounds so obvious is grow what you really like. It is easy to get carried away and waste time on veg that you would not really eat. I think pots take up a lot of space so I would go for, strawbs, herbs, runner beans as they go upwards, salad leaves, raddish and toms all easy and plentiful. Happy growing

[Two_Sheds]

potatoes, carrots, brocolli, possibly strawberrys and lettuce

hi and welcome. Just a brief note (I'm off out)

Potatoes: easy, just bung them in the ground

Carrots: a little harder, because carrot fly comes and puts maggots in them. (you need to cover them with mesh or fleece stuff)

Broccoli - takes up a lot of ground for a long time, and it's cheap in the supermarkets. Prolly not worth the bother

Strawbs: easy. Plant them and pick them

Lettuce: it hates hot sun, apart from that, it's easy (just thirsty)

[Bagpuss]

Hi ya **waves**
This is a great place to get you started on any seed purchases as you can purchase small batches Home - moreveg.co.uk, vegetable seed company, vegetable seed, herb seed, flower seed, carrot, (I am not connected to this company, but have used them on a recommendation I think from a grape).
I started off in my tiny tiny garden with toms, the branched out from there.
I tend to try and grow upright plants, like runner beans, peas, etc as I can fit more into the space I have (and plant them in tubs) and I can freeze them too!
My garlic growing has been a great success as you bung them in the ground and forget about them.

Finally, if you're ever not sure, simply tap on here and some wise grape is usually around to lend a helping hand.
Good luck !

[binley100]

Welcome from me .When we had a small area for growing veg we used to find that the things that did well were things like:-
Runner beans - prolific and grow upwards
Mange Tout - easier than normal peas
Courgettes - you only need a couple of plants
French beans- see runner beans
onions- easy from sets.
And the kids used to grow radish etc that are pretty quick.

[elsie-scot]

Hi. Welcome I made raised beds last year to do a bit more growing and after the intial work of doing the beds, I actually didnt have to spend loads of time in the garden. Probably didnt do anything by the book but we had a good success. Just do whatever you like to eat and if it doesnt work you learn from your mistakes. I got some cheap seeds from LIdl and Aldi. Depending on how old your child is, mark off a wee patch for them, and let them dig away and plant some fast growing things like radishes and cut and come again lettuce, or flowers.

Potatoes, early (first or second), very easy, just put them in the ground, then when you get some shoots, top up with earth.

Carrots - seeds in. Covered with some mesh and left them to it. Taking some out as baby carrots to thin (done in eve).

Lettuce - did a few differnet cut and come again and some little gem - sew seeds every few weeks. Some letuce may go to seed in hot weather but most of mine were fine.

Strawberries - easy, buy plants or sow some alpine strawberry seeds (small but yummy)

If you like peas, braod or runner beans, I found they grew very easy.

Good luck in your ventures

[Suky]

My twopenneth!
Potatoes - grow in pots or bags. They take up less room, you do need to water and feed but you can buy small bags of seed potatoes in garden centres and supermarket at the moment. There is nothing like a new potato straight from pot to pan to plate See the potato thread on here.

Beans - runner, french, tall or dwarf, yummy and easy. A simple wigwam of canes and a mix of both. I grew runners and purple podded french last year, this year will add some yellow too.

Tomatoes - cherry ones in a hanging basket, others in the ground.

salads - lettuce, radish, again easy to grow.
They all need a little care and attention but not excessive amounts. Pots and grow bags can have plastic bottles sunk in them, with small holes made in the bottom and sides (not too many or too big), fill with water and it will gradually seep into the soil. This is how I look after my toms.

Give it a go, everything has two chances - it grows or it doesn't!

[BUFFS]

hi connie, if you are just starting why not go to B&Q and buy one of those "expert" books,they do one on vegs and they take you through each veg,one stage at a time,i may be wrong but i think they are about £7/8,as they cover 99% of veg,you wont be left wondering what to do...best of luck with your veggies.

[chris]

When I grew carrots for the first time, I built a trough type thing out of floor boards I had spare - it was 2' tall, and then I built legs for it, to take it up to about 2.5' - as I was told that Carrot fly can't fly / hoverhigher than 2' or something

either way, whatever you decide (courgettes are amazing when they grow- huge big flowers (which you can deep fry whole - yum!)) you'll get the bug GL!

[faerieprincess]

With potatoes, check first as to whether your area is subject to potato blight. If it is, you may decide not to grow it. Also, potatoes are fairly cheap, do you REALLY want to grow them? Salad things would be a lot of fun, quick to grow, you could do successional plantings. Peas, etc would also be fun and tasty to eat straight off the plant. Also think about some berries, maybe some raspberries or some blueberries as well as the strawberries that others are recommending? Think about fruit/veg that you would consider a treat if you were to buy, and then find out whether that is feasible to grow in your area rather than the other way around.

[Suky]

We are all busy replying but Connie doesn't seem to have been back since she posted this question. Who scared her off ?